Tottenham could be given extra time to decide whether to play home matches at Wembley Stadium next season

EXCLUSIVE
1/13
Tom Collomosse24 March 2017

Tottenham may be granted extra time to decide whether to play home fixtures at Wembley next season following talks with stadium chiefs.

The Premier League club are still working towards the original ‘activation date’ of March 31, agreed previously with Wembley, to confirm their intentions for 2017-18.

But as the club are working to a tight construction schedule with their new 61,000-seat stadium — a project costing about £800million — it is possible they will be given a little more breathing space before setting their plans in stone. That means their decision on whether to move to Wembley next season may not be made until April.

If Spurs confirm the Wembley switch this spring, demolition work on White Hart Lane could begin not long after their last home game of the season, against Manchester United over the weekend of May 13-14.

There was already provision for five Spurs home games at full capacity under Wembley’s existing rules, making a total of 27, and it is thought there is room for negotiation should Spurs have more home games than that. In theory, Spurs could play every home match before a full house, or close to it.

Though it was an important hurdle to clear, what happens next is not determined. Will their new ground be ready in time for the start of — or at least early in — the 2018-19 campaign?

If Spurs were happy the ground would be finished soon after the start of that season, they could apply to play consecutive away games in the early weeks, as Liverpool did last August.

While work was completed on Anfield’s new Main Stand, Liverpool visited Arsenal, Burnley and Tottenham in the League and delayed their first home game until September 10.

If Tottenham decide a similar scheme would be insufficient, the most likely outcome is that they spend next season at White Hart Lane. Not once have the club said publicly this will be their final campaign at this ground.

That would bring further matters to resolve. Like this season, Spurs would probably need to play European football away from White Hart Lane – with Wembley an option once more, despite the team’s poor recent record there.

And if Spurs stay another year at White Hart Lane, would they seek to stage home games at Wembley in 2018-19, when Chelsea may try to do the same? The Premier League leaders hope to move into a redeveloped Stamford Bridge in 2021, and plan to move to Wembley for three seasons from 2018-19. Were both clubs to use the stadium in the same season the number of full capacity games allowed would, in theory, have to be shared between them.

In Pictures | What Tottenham's new stadium will look like

1/9

Following the Brent verdict, Spurs released a statement acknowledging the outcome, adding: “The club will now continue discussions with WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited) and shall update fans in due course.”

A Wembley spokesperson told Standard Sport: "We note Brent Council’s verdict to increase the number of full capacity events at Wembley Stadium, we fully respect the process and we welcome the decision.

"We are committed to ensuring that all events held at Wembley Stadium are delivered in a manner that benefits the local community. This application involved an extensive public consultation process and we will continue to work closely with the council, local residents and businesses of Brent to make it a success."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in